Million-dollar deadbeat dad, on the lam for nearly 20 years, enters guilty plea

A father of three who owed more than $1.2 million in child support has pleaded guilty to traveling across state lines and overseas to avoid paying up.

Robert Sand pleaded guilty on Thursday, report the New York Times and the Associated Press. He had been featured on a “most wanted deadbeat” list compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services.

According to prior coverage by the New York Times, Sand was on the lam for about 20 years. He was deported after an arrest in the Philippines for traveling with false documents; he had spent much of the prior year in Thailand. Sand’s lawyer, Glenn Obedin, said his client was arrested after contacting authorities because he was tired of life on the run.

According to the Times, “Mr. Sand, prosecutors say, is of an exceptional breed: the million-dollar ‘deadbeat dad.’ ” He was among 23 parents in New York State who owed $1 million or more when the article was written.